


We're Trapped Here Together

by Tf_Tere (Tere706)



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Canonical Character Death, Complicated Relationships, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Abuse, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Knock Out needs a hug, M/M, Megatron is not good people, Mutual Pining, Starscream isn't the best at comfort, Starscream needs a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-06
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-11-12 22:18:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18019493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tere706/pseuds/Tf_Tere
Summary: Knock Out struggles to deal with the loss of Breakdown and why he is staying on the Nemesis with the Decepticons. Starscream decides to try and offer a bit of comfort. It's not that he cares, he just wants to be a good commander.There may not be enough comfort to go around on this ship.





	We're Trapped Here Together

**Author's Note:**

> Needed to work through some shit and my muses wanted to help. This is stand alone for now, but I may add more stories in this universe as they come to me.

Starscream stood at the entrance to the mess hall on the Nemesis. One of the Vehicons had told him Knock Out was here. Judging by the small pile of empty cubes, he’d been here for a quite a while. Part of him wanted to snap at the red mech for wasting the resources or indulging in the pain of his loss. Not because he didn’t think Knock Out was justified in his current actions, but because it was painful to see him like this. Starscream wanted to see Knock Out as his normal self, even with his self satisfied smirk.  

The click of his heeled pedes filled the empty space as Starscream walked over to stand near where Knock Out sat. The medic didn’t bother to look up at him, just lifted his cube to take a drink. 

“Need a check up, commander Starscream?” The red mech’s vocalizer was rough, almost staticky. 

Starscream flexed his servos and twitched his wings, uncomfortable. “No.”

Knock Out nodded slightly and took another drink. There were energon stains still on his servos, as if he hadn’t bothered to clean himself after the last round of operations on damaged Vehicons. In all likelihood, he’d come here as soon as he was finished to drown his sorrow and pain.

“I’m sorry. He was your… conjunx-?”

“Amica.” Knock Out cut him off, still staring down at the half finished cube of high grade. “Not conjunx.”

Starscream felt his wings flick up in surprise for a moment. “I thought...” He trailed off.

“You never bothered to ask.” The red mech lifted the cube, taking another swallow. “None of you asked, you all just assumed. Or didn’t care, I guess.”

That hit a nerve. Starscream glared to the side, shifting his weight back and forth on his heeled pedes. “Well, you two certainly acted like you were in a relationship.” He muttered.

Knock Out finally looked up at him, red optics slightly fuzzed from the high grade. “Like you’d know anything about  _ relationships. _ ” Now there was a hint of anger mixed with his despondent tone. 

“Excuse me, I don’t run around flirting with everything that moves and hanging off my amica like he’s my conjunx. Don’t try to tell me you two never interfaced, I received enough complaints about it!” It was so much easier to be angry with Knock Out than to feel pity or pain for the mech. Starscream felt his wings lift high and wide instinctively, an intimidation factor. The medic was one of the few who wasn’t bigger than him, but instincts died hard.

Knock Out narrowed his optics at Starscream’s words and display. “No, you just spread your legs whenever Megatron gets angry with you.” The words were blunt, cutting. “And then come to me for repairs afterwards. Did you think I wouldn’t know what was happening? Or did you take my silence as tacit agreement for your twisted relationship with him?”

Starscream’s frame tensed, wings drooping low, and optics wide. He couldn’t hold Knock Out’s gaze, looking down and away from the medic. “It’s not a relationship.” His voice was softer, rougher with suppressed emotion. Why did it matter if Knock Out knew? Plenty of other Decepticons were aware of his activities with Megatron. But now he felt… shame.

“Oh? Then what is it?” Knock Out demanded, clenching his servo around the cube of high grade.

“A transaction.” He tried to put some snap back into his voice. “Megatron gets to frag his second in command back into submission and I get to stay alive.” The all too familiar curl of disgust and desire made his tanks churn when he thought about Megatron, about their… whatever it was that they shared. 

Silence stretched between them. Starscream shifted his weight back and forth again. He turned to leave Knock Out to wallow in his misery alone. 

“You could leave.” Those words made Starscream stop and look at the red mech again. Knock Out was staring down at the high grade.

Starscream scoffed and set a servo on one hip. “Leave? And go where? The Autobots want me dead. And if I became a neutral I’d have to be on the run for the rest of my life. I’d have Autobots wanting me dead and Megatron certainly isn’t going to let me go free without a fight. Even if he somehow decided I wasn’t worth the trouble, Soundwave wouldn’t allow a potential problem like me escape.” He shook his head sharply, choking back manic laughter. Escape from this situation was a daydream he’d give up long ago. “No. There’s nowhere for me to go now.” 

Knock Out lifted the cube and tossed the last mouthfuls down, throwing it across the table to rest against the others he’d finished off. “You and me both, I guess.” He lifted one shoulder in a shrug. 

“No one is stopping you from leaving.” Starscream said, feeling a small flutter of concern. Megatron might say otherwise. Having the medic on the Nemesis was useful. Knock Out had a variety of skills and Megatron wasn’t going to let anything useful go without a fight. 

Knock Out stopped in front of Starscream, only a slight sway betraying the amount of high grade he’d ingested. He stared up into Starscream’s optics with an unreadable expression. “Everything I have left is here. I won’t leave without…” He trailed off, staring up at Starscream for a few moments longer before looking away and waving a servo idly in the air. “Nevermind. I have to go back to work.” 

Starscream turned to watch Knock Out walk away. He reached out, servo almost brushing against his shoulder. But he fell short, curling his digits into a fist as he watched the medic turn the corner and disappear. Starscream let his shoulders slump, wings drooping, and head down. His frame shook slightly as his spark burned with a painful feeling he didn’t want to examine. 


End file.
